1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal identification apparatus and method and, more particularly, to a personal identification apparatus and method using information inherent to a registered person for identification.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, security necessary for, e.g., access control for a specific place and, especially, security using human biometrical information has received a great deal of attention. In A personal identification method using human biometrical information, features such as the face, voiceprint, fingerprint, iris, nail, and hair related to bodily features inherent to a person are extracted, and the features are identified as personal specific information stored in advance, thereby classifying the person.
Personal identification methods for a conventional personal identification apparatus using biometrical information are classified into two schemes: “personal identification” and “personal classification”. In the “personal identification” method, it is determined whether an object person to be identified who uses the personal identification apparatus is a registered person who has already been registered and also a person who can obtain permission. In the “personal classification” method, it is determined whether an object person who uses the personal identification apparatus is one of registered persons who have already been registered. Processing based on “personal identification” may be executed for a person for whom “personal classification” is done first, and it may determine whether the object person is a registered, permitted person.
For the personal identification or personal classification, each personal information, i.e., stored in a database which stores the specific information. The specific information of the object person is extracted by the extraction device in the personal identification apparatus, which extracts the specific information of the object person. The extracted specific information is compared with all of a plurality of pieces of specific information stored in the database, thereby classifying between the registered persons and the object person.
A case wherein the personal identification apparatus is an access control system will be examined.
Analysis of the usual use forms of persons to be identified who use the access control system may reveal that some specific registered persons often use the system, i.e., are permitted to enter a specific place by the access control system and enter there many times, and some registered persons use the access control system only once in several months.
In addition, if the number of registered persons is large, the verification is time-consuming because the specific information of the object person must be compared with each of the pieces of specific information of the registered persons until the specific information of the object person matches the specific information of a registered person. Especially, when the pieces of specific information of the registered persons are compared with the specific information of the object person in the order of registration, the later the registration time is, the longer the verification time becomes. This may prolong the standby time for the object person for identification. The pieces of specific information of the registered persons are arranged in the order of registration of the registered persons, as described above, or in the order of name, staff number, or the like. The specific information of a new registered person is registered after the already stored information, and this order is fixed and stored in the database or the like.
Furthermore, when a plurality of pieces of specific information (e.g., fingerprint and face) of the object person are compared with the pieces of stored specific information of the registered persons to improve the accuracy of security, the comparison time becomes longer, resulting in a further increase in standby time for the object person.